Sangamon Sun

State Rep. Mike Murphy said during a virtual conference that the way to rebuild the economy is to create a pro-business climate by giving business owners the tools they need to invest.

Murphy also stated that similar to what both parties had done in 2019, Republicans can again work with Democrats to create a “jobs package that helps businesses grow.”

“Republicans are willing to help the governor and Democrats pass legislation that attracts good-paying jobs for the long term,” he said. “We’ve done it before and we stand ready to help our constituents and all the hard-working people in Illinois find gainful, meaningful employment in the State of Illinois.”

He also listed some measures that can be considered. He suggested, “reinstatement of manufacturer’s credit to incentify manufacturing investment, phasing out the antiquated franchise tax that brought little in state revenues but cost small businesses millions of dollars annually, elimination of the cap of retailers' discounts which is very important to our struggling industry right now, creation of a data center tax incentive which has already been very successful and the governor’s administration is using right now to pursue the expansion of a data hub used by the New York Stock Exchange.”

He also said that the way forward is not through tax hikes.